ITIA Press Release, May 13, 2022

The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) has confirmed that Bastián Malla, a 26-year-old tennis player from Chile has accepted a charge under the 2022 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme (TADP) for the presence of Cannabis. The player has been banned from tennis for a period of one month, provided he completes a treatment programme approved by the ITIA.

Mr Malla, who has an ATP career-high ranking of 362, was tested at an ATP Challenger event in Santiago, Chile in March 2022. The player admitted the Anti-Doping Rule Violation and asserted that his consumption was unrelated to sports performance, which was accepted by the ITIA.

The default period of ineligibility under Article 10.2.4.1 of the TADP is three months, which can be reduced to one month providing a suitable Substance of Abuse treatment programme is undertaken.

The one-month period of ineligibility commenced on the date of the player’s voluntary provisional suspension and concluded on Friday, 6 May 2022, on which date the ITIA advised him that he was free to return to tennis subject to him successfully completing the treatment programme.  If he fails to comply with those conditions, he will be subject to an additional two months of ineligibility.

The ITIA is the delegated third party, under the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code) of the International Tennis Federation, the international governing body for the sport of tennis and signatory of the Code. The ITIA is responsible for the management and administration of anti-doping across professional tennis in accordance with the 2022 TADP.